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Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall Quotes

Primatologist

Jane Goodall, born on April 3, 1934, is a renowned primatologist. She is best known for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and is considered one of the founders of modern primatology. Dr. Goodall's work has had a profound impact on our understanding of animal behavior.

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Famous Jane Goodall Quotes

“I had a wonderful teacher about animal behavior.”

Animal Teacher Wonderful Teaching Behavior Animal Behavior Wonderful Teacher

Author:Jane Goodall

“We started off with physical evolution and got our form. Then we somehow developed language, which meant cultural evolution could race so we could change our behavior really quickly instead of over hundreds and hundreds of years. And then comes moral evolution, which means we're not frightfully far along with people. And maybe we end up with a spiritual evolution, which is this connectedness with the rest of the life forms on the planet.”

People Years Mean Ends Spiritual Form Language Race Moral Planets Evolution Behavior Connectedness Spiritual Evolution

Author:Jane Goodall

“Certainly, if you look at human behavior around the world, you have to admit that we can be very aggressive.”

Ifs World Humans Looks Behavior Around The World Aggressive Human Behavior

Author:Jane Goodall

“But does that mean that war and violence are inevitable? I would argue not because we have also evolved this amazingly sophisticated intellect, and we are capable of controlling our innate behavior a lot of the time.”

Mean Doe War Violence Behavior Capable Intellect Arguing Inevitable Sophisticated Innate

Author:Jane Goodall

“It was both fascinating and appalling to learn that chimpanzees were capable of hostile and territorial behavior that was not unlike certain forms of primitive human warfare.”

Humans Form Certain Behavior Capable Fascinating Primitive Warfare Hostile Chimpanzees Territorial

Book:Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey

Source: Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey

“War had always seemed to me to be a purely human behavior. Accounts of warlike behavior date back to the very first written records of human history; it seemed to be an almost universal characteristic of human groups.”

Firsts Humans War Records Written Groups Behavior Universal Accounts Characteristics Human Behavior Human History

Author:Jane Goodall

“And I thought how sad it was that, for all our sophisticated intellect, for all our noble aspirations, our aggressive behavior was not just similar in many ways to that of the chimpanzees - it was even worse. Worse because human beings have the potential to rise above their baser instincts, whereas chimpanzees probably do not.”

Way Humans Human Beings Behavior Instinct Intellect Noble Aspiration Aggressive Sophisticated Rise Above Chimpanzees

Author:Jane Goodall

“It's the bond between mother and child, which is really for us and for chimps and other primates, the root of all the expressions of social behavior.”

Children Mother Social Expression Behavior Roots Primates Mother And Child Social Behavior

Author:Jane Goodall

“Maternal behavior helps when you have to be patient with nonverbal creatures.”

Helping Creatures Behavior Patient Be Patient Nonverbal

Author:Jane Goodall

“It is these undeniable qualities of human love and compassion and self-sacrifice that give me hope for the future. We are, indeed, often cruel and evil. Nobody can deny this. We gang up on each one another, we torture each other, with words as well as deeds, we fight, we kill. But we are also capable of the most noble, generous, and heroic behavior.”

“We have a responsibility toward the other life-forms of our planet whose continued existence is threatened by the thoughtless behavior of our own human species. . . . Environmental responsibility – for if there is no God, then, obviously, it is up to us to put things right.”

Ifs Humans Form Existence Responsibility Planets Behavior Species Environmental Threatened Our Planet There Is No God Human Species Environmental Responsibility

Author:Jane Goodall

“Chimpanzees have given me so much. The long hours spent with them in the forest have enriched my life beyond measure. What I have learned from them has shaped my understanding of human behavior, of our place in nature.”

Humans Long Given Understanding Hours Behavior Forests I Have Learned Human Behavior Chimpanzees Long Hours

Author:Jane Goodall

“I had a wonderful teacher about animal behavior - my dog Rusty. He taught me that animals have personalities, minds, and feelings.”

Mind Feelings Animal Teacher Wonderful Dog Taught Personality Behavior My Dog Animal Behavior Wonderful Teacher

Author:Jane Goodall

“The more we learn of the true nature of non-human animals, especially those with complex brains and corresponding complex social behavior, the more ethical concerns are raised regarding their use in the service of man - whether this be in entertainment, as "pets," for food, in research laboratories, or any of the other uses to which we subject them.”

Men Humans Use Social Animal Brain Subjects Behavior Research Concern Raised Complexes Entertainment Pet Ethical Laboratory True Nature Corresponding Human Animal Social Behavior

Author:Jane Goodall

“Some people say, therefore, that violence and war are inevitable. I say rubbish: Our brains are fully capable of controlling instinctive behavior.”

People War Brain Violence Behavior Capable Inevitable Rubbish Violence And War

Author:Jane Goodall

About the Author

Born: April 3, 1934
Known for: Primatologist
Quotes: 292

Related Topics

Animal Humans People Ifs Thinking World Chimpanzees Way Believe Want Environment Children Differences Behavior Feels Feelings Knows Young Brain Forests

Popular Topics

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Books & Sources

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying TimesRelated source material

Jane Goodall: 40 years at Gombe : a tribute to four decades of wildlife research, education, and conservationRelated source material

Reason for Hope: A Spiritual JourneyRelated source material

Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of GombeRelated source material

Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters : the Early YearsRelated source material

My Life with the ChimpanzeesRelated source material

With Love: Ten Heartwarming Stories of Chimpanzees in the WildRelated source material

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